New York's long-awaited TWA Hotel to begin taking reservations

Exclusive look at the new rooms at the TWA Hotel being built at JFK airport, as well as a look at the old terminal. The terminal will be the lobby of the new 512-room hotel.
Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Finally, aviation enthusiasts will soon be able to book a room at the TWA Hotel.

The long-anticipated property on the grounds of New York JFK Airport will begin taking reservations at noon ET on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) for stays beginning May 15, when the hotel will have a “soft opening.”

“A grand opening celebration will be thrown in the fall,” the hotel says.

For now, room rates begin at $249 a night. Reservations must be made by visiting the hotel’s website, twahotel.com.

Anchored around the landmark TWA Flight Center that opened in 1962 as the Jet Age dawned, the airport property is one of the most-anticipated hotel openings of 2019.

The 512-room hotel will feature two new six-story towers that flank the old TWA terminal’s “head house,” an architectural masterpiece designed by Eero Saarinen. The terminal is in the process of being converted into a 200,000-square-foot lobby the hotel claims will be the world’s largest.

Adrianne Hick, modeling a vintage flight attendant uniform, leads the way into Room 528 -- a mock-up in a JFK airport hangar that showed what the standard rooms will look like at the anticipated new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Guests staying at the new TWA Hotel at New York's JFK Airport will get TWA-themed toiletries. "We encourage people to steal stuff," said MCR CEO Tyler Morse, before adding: "Not a ton of stuff." Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

TWA Hotel showed off this mini-bar area as part of a reveal of what its standard rooms will look like at the hotel when it opens in 2019. The retro flight attendant uniforms will not be included. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A full-scale mock-up for the TWA Hotel shows what guests can expect in standard rooms once the property opens in 2019. The rooms will include mid-century furniture and rotary phones. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Work desks in the standard rooms at the new TWA Hotel will be behind the beds, affording guests a view of either the airfield or the iconic TWA Flight Center terminal building. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Work desks in the standard rooms at the new TWA Hotel will be behind the beds, affording guests a view of either the airfield or the iconic TWA Flight Center terminal building. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

It didn't look like much from the outside, but this mock-up created a life-size model showing a hallway and standard hotel room planned for the new TWA Hotel. Seen to the left is the desk used by Jack Frye, TWA's president from the mid-1930s into the 1940s. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

The AirTrain passes in front of the old TWA Flight Center terminal, which will be the hotels lobby. The new hotel wings under construction on either side will house the property's 512 guest rooms. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

MCR CEO Tyler Morse leads a tour through the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become part of a mammoth 200,000-square-foot lobby that connects two wings of hotel rooms. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. The terminal's iconic Solari split-flap flight departure boards are being restored, though they will no longer show active flight information. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

MCR CEO Tyler Morse leads a tour through the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become part of a mammoth 200,000-square-foot lobby that connects two wings of hotel rooms. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

MCR CEO Tyler Morse leads a tour through the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become part of a mammoth 200,000-square-foot lobby that connects two wings of hotel rooms. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018, as it undergoes reconstruction. Lounge areas will be restored as part of the TWA Hotel's 200,000-square-foot lobby. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Aging signage from the old TWA Flight Center sits in the terminal building on April 6, 2018. The building is being repurposed as a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the TWA Hotel that will open in 2019. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Seen here is one of the old TWA terminal's iconic flight tubes. They'll remain and will connect the TWA Hotel lobby to the guest-room wings, the JFK AirTrain and to Terminal 5 that's used by JetBlue. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018, as it undergoes reconstruction. Lounge areas will be restored as part of the TWA Hotel's 200,000-square-foot lobby. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby for the new TWA Hotel. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

MCR CEO Tyler Morse leads a tour through the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018. Now under reconstruction, the terminal will become part of a mammoth 200,000-square-foot lobby that connects two wings of hotel rooms. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A look out of the old TWA Flight Center on April 6, 2018, as it is being refurbished to become the TWA Hotel lobby. One wing of the new hotel is visible through the terminal's glass. Robert Deutsch, USAT

Seen here is one of the old TWA terminal's iconic flight tubes. They'll remain and will connect the TWA Hotel lobby to the guest-room wings, the JFK AirTrain and to Terminal 5 that's used by JetBlue. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018, as it undergoes reconstruction. Lounge areas will be restored as part of the TWA Hotel's 200,000-square-foot lobby. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018, as it undergoes reconstruction. It is being restored as part of the TWA Hotel's 200,000-square-foot lobby. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018, as it undergoes reconstruction. It is being restored as part of the TWA Hotel's 200,000-square-foot lobby. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

A view inside the old TWA Flight Center terminal building on April 6, 2018, as it undergoes reconstruction. It is being restored as part of the TWA Hotel's 200,000-square-foot lobby. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

The old TWA terminal's iconic flight tubes will remain. They'll connect the TWA Hotel lobby to the guest-room wings, the JFK AirTrain and to Terminal 5 that's used by JetBlue. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

The old TWA Flight Center, which will become a 200,000-square-foot lobby, takes center stage as two six-story room wings rise on either side of it as seen in this April 6, 2018, photo from New York's JFK Airport. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY